L.A. PARKER: We cannot ignore acts of violence against children

By
L.A. Parker, The Trentonian

Friday, May 16, 2014

Trenton is getting worse.

I know this because a 9-year-old city girl had two hot bullets crease her brown skin while another lodged in her shoulder.

She had been a passenger in a vehicle that a gunman shot full of holes. It’s likely the driver had been the target but who knows, maybe some classmate had a grudge. Seems like every one in Trenton holds a handgun and without parental controls perhaps fourth-grade students wield weapons for drive bys on their bicycles.

The incident received about as much attention as the sun rising out of the Seaside Heights ocean.

Newspapers used to exist with a “if it bleeds it leads” mantra but even that has morphed into “if it ain’t dead then it don’t get read.”

Being shot, even as a single-digit aged schoolgirl, ranks as passe, an almost normal not newsworthy occurrence that deserves minimal worry.

One can imagine a phone exchange as the reporter ends the conversation with “She’s not dead? Call us back if she dies.”

Shame ramps here for every African American, Caucasian, and Latino person, etc. in Trenton who have shut down their senses. They disconnect like Timothy Leary groupies who have turned on, tuned in, and dropped out of society, willing to accept extreme antisocial behavior as part of the urban fabric.

Trenton went down this path before but we have allowed a backslide into a dreadful situation where a child has to deal with the horror that attaches to bullet holes in her torso. Acceptance maybe open doors for addiction recovery but closing our hearts, mouths, and minds to violence makes us culpable for every dirty deed.

In March, 2006, seven-year-old Tajanique Lee became a poster child for Trenton violence after being caught in a crossfire gun fight between rival gang members.

Lee, out riding her bike, felt a bullet plunge her face, one that ricocheted around, knocked out a tooth, seared her tongue and left a deplorable taste in the mouths of residents.

This shooting galvanized a city as religious leaders, politicians, and communities stood against a rising tide of violence. Even months later, local youth participated in a June march that asked adults to protect them.

We failed miserably, continue to lose our way, damage our souls, and renege on a God-given responsibility to watch over our children. Almost eight years after the Lee incident, by the way, her family got out of Dodge for a tranquil suburban life, Trenton residents have backstepped to a vantage point of cowardice.

We have forfeited our requirement to serve as advocates for children, seemingly prepared to allow their well being to be punctured with small missiles traveling at rapid speeds.

I don’t understand how we mete out coverage or care for city shooting victims. Two police officers get shot in the line of duty and the outpouring of love causes a flood of both emotions and blood donations.

A family pet dog is gunned down by state police during execution of a warrant and that incident receives a significant amount of air time because fido proved a wonderful companion. Make no mistake, pets matter but there is not a dog, cat, or parrot that holds rank with a child.

The fact that people appear to care more about pets than this sad condition of black folk makes difficult any engaged eye-to-eye contact because that may offer a clear view to the soul.

I do know that healthy cities, communities, and neighborhoods make child care a major priority. If we discard children and fail to nourish, love, teach, and reprimand them during their youth, then we will deal with their wrath, fury, anger, and spiritual demise when their maturity delivers violence.

— L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Reach him at laparker@trentonian.com. Twitter @laparker6.